Michigan salons left in the dark as pressure to reopen mounts – MLive.com

HOLLAND, MI Rachel Harned is stuck between a pandemic and a hard place.

Harned, owner of Bombshell Blow Dry Bar and the Salon Professional Academy beauty school in Holland, is being pushed by some clients join a handful of barbershops and salons reopening in defiance of state orders that closed many businesses to help stem the coronavirus spread.

Others say not to jeopardize her license and wait to reopen when stay-home orders lift.

She knows that hair salons and barbershops bring people into close contact, which is risky in a pandemic. Physical distancing is next to impossible while cutting someones hair. But she also knows that stylists are generally well-versed in sanitation and their services are in high demand.

Harned is torn by the dilemma. I have a high-risk son, but I also have to provide for him; pay his medical bills and put food on the table, she said.

Professional cosmetologists are starting to pipe up as new Michigan COVID-19 cases taper and the state takes initial steps toward reopening its economy. They are feeling overlooked and frustrated by a lack of communication and direction from state and local officials about when salons, spas and barbershops might be allowed to reopen, and what safety protocols will be necessary once that occurs.

Unable to get any direction from Michigan health and licensing officials, salon owners have turned to back-to-work guides from the beauty industry and are studying states like Ohio, Georgia and Indiana, which have begun allowing salons to reopen with enhanced safety measures.

Federal guidance has also been scare. The Trump Administration has put the onus on individual states to develop economic reopening guidance rather than offer centralized leadership. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released limited one-page reopen guidance for some types of business, but has not produced anything specific to cosmetology.

The groundswell of frustration in the cosmetology ranks occurs against the state and national backdrop of anti-quarantine political protests in Michigan and elsewhere, as well as a high-profile Owosso barber who has become a flashpoint for openly defying Gov. Gretchen Whitmers order closing non-essential businesses.

Were trying to be neutral and supportive, but its hard when you cant even get a hello back, said Kristan Sayers, a Brighton salon owner whose nascent Michigan Association of Beauty Professionals (MABP) has seen of surge of new members during the pandemic.

We just know what other states are doing, said Sayers. Thats all we can really follow.

Related stories: MLive coronavirus coverage

Salon owners say theyve have had little besides Whitmers media statements to guide them over the past couple months as they try to cobble together post-lockdown plans. The governors six-phase MI Safe Start economic reopen plan rolled out on May 7 doesnt directly address cosmetology businesses, but Whitmer has said previously theyre expected to be among the last types of businesses to reopen.

This week, Whitmer said salons may reopen in Phase 5, when non-essential retail business can resume with limited capacity. The plan says that phase begins when COVID-19 case levels are extremely low and health care system capacity improves. Presently, Michigan is in Phase 3. New cases have plateaued; and testing and contact tracing efforts are ramping up.

On WSNX, Whitmer referenced the inherent difficulty in physical distancing at salons, but also acknowledged they might reopen sooner in some areas of the state.

Whitmer said Michigan is still developing the protocols.

When you talk about services like that, youre touching the public and often in high density scenarios; where youve people sitting right next to each other, she said. Theres no possibly of observing six feet of distance. In some, you can wear a mask. You can improve hand washing. I think that were looking at those types of services in probably the 5th phase.

Related: Retail probably included in next wave of reopenings, Whitmer says

Sayers and others have sent emails and called COVID-19 state hotlines trying to connect with someone in Lansing who can offer clarity. State agencies have been directing them to the governors office, which is presumably swamped and not responding. The state cosmetology licensing board offered little guidance during its regular meeting this week and commissioners did not answer questions, say stylists who tuned-in.

MLives attempts to reach Whitmers press staff were not successful.

Indications the state is beginning to get the message finally arrived this week. On Wednesday, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) offered Sayers a seat on a new state workgroup thats creating guidelines to present to Whitmer. An initial meeting took place Saturday.

Sayers said the MPBA, which started in 2017 but was dormant until the pandemic hit, has added about 2,000 licensed stylists in recent weeks. Difficulty connecting with decision-makers has made obvious the need for a state association, she said.

She wonders if having better communication between the industry and state government might have helped avoid the situation in Owosso, where barber Karl Manke resumed business in defiance of state order on May 4 and has since drawn national attention. Manke, whose license has now been suspended amid a legal showdown with the state, has become a champion of the anti-quarantine movement.

Salons in Cadillac and Holland have since followed suit.

Sayers isnt sure Manke is helping her cause. Were trying really hard to stay neutral of that, she said.

We need communication with our industry, she said. Anything. Just communicate. Without it, theres chaos.

Absent state guidance, salon owners like Elisabeth Bartrom have cobbled together reopening plans of their own. Bartrom, who owns Chasing Vanity salon and medispa in Grand Rapids, said clients can expect to see changes.

She has been collaborating with peers on a list of new safety procedures that include reduced staffing, more distance between chairs, frequent disinfection of tools and surfaces, mandatory masks and other personal protection gear for patrons and staff, guest and employee temperature checks and pre-appointment screening questionnaires.

Bartrom is considering a stop to blow-drying altogether. The waiting room is being closed. Clients would wait in the car for a notification the stylist is ready.

I want my customers to know were doing everything in our power to take those extra precautions because this is serious, she said.

Shes been frustrated by a lack of communication with Lansing.

I feel like weve been forgotten about, Bartrom said.

In northern Michigan, Kimi Schugart of Endless Hair Designs in East Tawas said she expects many salons that were already struggling financially to close for good.

Schugart consults around Michigan through LOral and said many stylists are bummed about safety changes dampening salon culture. Stylists are creative people who like to dress-up and wear makeup, she said. Having to wear masks and social distance will be tough.

Were lovey, touchy people, she said. We like to be in your personal space.

Schugart anticipates some reluctance from clients to return until a coronavirus vaccine is developed, but suggested changes in customer habits may depend on demographic and whether theyre from a hard-hit metro area, or parts of Michigan that are barely touched by the disease.

Youll have the ladies with gray hair who dont care how much it costs or whats going on, they want their hair done, she said. Our industry is strange.

In Holland, Harned said shes already reorganized her space and is stocking up on personal protective equipment like masks and face shields, which she hasnt struggled to find. Among other precautions, shes planning to have the place regularly fogged with disinfectant.

Shes been talking to peers in Michigan and other states and digesting industry support guidance from national franchise groups. Shes expecting to reopen at something like 25 to 30 percent capacity. Thats tough on revenue, but its better than nothing. Since the shut-down, Harned has tried selling hair products, special boxes of boutique items and gift cards from the curb. Thats all we can do right now.

Shes turned away a lot of business, from lucrative bridal party work to mens haircuts. Shes also turned down many requests for haircuts at home. Harned said a truck driver called asking for a haircut, and she told him to schedule something once he reached Georgia.

I sent him to another state for a haircut, she said. There was nothing else I could do.

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Michigan salons left in the dark as pressure to reopen mounts - MLive.com